What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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played with Tommy Flanagan and Don Goodwin. I mean, when you look at his discography, it's almost too much to list — everybody from Dizzy Gillespie to Jimmy Heath, Charles McPherson, Chris Potter" and more, Gibson says. Gibson himself plays many roles, among them composer, recording artist and the director of Jazz Studies at Northeastern State University. He has released four albums as a bandleader. He's worked with the Temptations, Four Tops, the Jim Knapp Orchestra, Tito Puente Jr. and Lalo Rodriguez. His compositions are described as having roots in both 20th-century jazz and western classical music, and he says that his music is inspired by world music and current events. So how do so many accomplished and well- known jazz musicians come together? Gibson says that this combo has a tie to Fayetteville and the Walton Arts Center. "One day [Bianchi] had a gig at the Walton Arts Center with Pat Martino, and we had lunch together and at that lunch, we discussed putting a band together." From there, the two worked on Gibson's album, "Tri-Colored Eyes," and Bianchi later brought in Nash and Jones while Gibson knew Dease from their academic work together. "You build these relationships with people. The jazz world is … a small world when you really get down to it," Gibson adds. "If you gave me $5 million and asked, 'Who would you like to hire?' I would hire the same people." Despite being a professor of music, Gibson said that he feels his real education came from jam sessions. "I think I learned the most just with local musicians who many people would have never heard of. This really is where you learn how to play jazz is in the jam sessions — from gigs and talking to musicians and giving them rides home," he says with a laugh. "Getting that tough love from them, that is kind of part of the history of jazz and part of the older generation. You know, they could be really tough on people if they didn't sound good. They could include everything up to public humiliation. But if you came back the next week, and they can tell that you really love the music and that you improved and you went home and you worked on it, then they really welcomed you with open arms because it's so important to them that this music gets passed on." Gibson says that the group plans to perform some of the music from his last record, "Tricolored Eyes," and then they will play some compositions from their new record which they will begin recording the next day at Northeastern State University. 38 WHAT'S UP! FEBRUARY 27-MARCH 5, 2022 PRESIDENT Brent A. Powers EDITOR Becca Martin-Brown 479-872-5054 bmartin@nwadg.com Twitter: NWAbecca REPORTERS Monica Hooper mhooper@nwadg.com April Wallace awallace@nwadg.com (479) 770-3746 DESIGNER Deb Harvell ! UP WHAT'S ON THE COVER In "The World In A Cup," filmgoers will meet "Guillermo Vargas from Café de Monteverde in Costa Rica who speaks about the family ties to coffee, and the sustainability focus of coffee farming. You'll meet Tirunesh from Lalibela, Ethiopia who held space for one of my favorite coffee ceremonies I have ever attended. You'll get to meet a few of the women from Samburu, Kenya who discuss the role of clean water access in coffee and tea making. And more incredible people and communities that mean a lot to me," says filmmaker Brooke Bierhaus. (COURTESY PHOTO) What's Up! is a publication of the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Gibson Continued From Page 12 FAYETTEVILLE Lewis Nash Michael Dease Pat Bianchi Sean Jones "I think I learned the most just with local musicians who many people would have never heard of. This really is where you learn how to play jazz is in the jam sessions — from gigs and talking to musicians and giving them rides home." — Clark Gibson "If you gave me $5 million and asked, 'Who would you like to hire?' I would hire the same people." — Clark Gibson What's Up! goes to print on Wednesday, so please check with venues before attending events that might be canceled by weather.